BEGATS AND BEQUEATHALS

Or, Subtitled: “Item to my loving Wife Mary my Sorrel Horse in her poſseſsion Mare called Trim”

In the last posting, I presented the information I’ve been able to find about George Birdwell (bef. 1725 – 1781) up to his purchase of land in Augusta (later Botetourt) County, Virginia, in November 1751. As that posting indicates, the first record researchers have found for George is an April 1745 Orange County, Virginia, court record stating that he was a witness in a trial in that county. Augusta County, where George bought land in November 1751, was formed from Orange, and it’s likely George was actually living in Augusta County when he appeared in this April 1745 Orange County record. He may well have already been living on the 140 acres of land in a bend of the James River northeast of Fincastle that he would buy from James Patton in November 1751.